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Chapter 1148: Battle of Fau Harbor 2
"Well, this is good news. Settle, order the fleet to lower the sails and slow down. Don't drop anchor yet. Arrange a few ships to circle around, test the water depth, and get familiar with the water conditions."

Since Jin Gui said he was sure, Hong Tao didn't worry about the river channel. But it was night, and he couldn't see the enemy's deployment clearly, so he couldn't launch an attack immediately. He had to find an anchorage for the fleet first.

Then the flagship captain Settle was in trouble. If he knew how much suffering it would be to travel with the emperor, he would definitely not cry, make a fuss, or even threaten to commit suicide to beg for mercy from Jie Ji.

However, it cannot be said that all generals avoid such honors. Following the emperor to war is tiring and easy to be criticized, but you can also learn a lot of tricks. Those are not in textbooks and ordinary battle case analysis, which is unique to scorpions.

"Your Majesty, there is a large island a few dozen kilometers to the south. There lives a group of people there who claim to be descendants of Greeks and hate the Ottomans very much. If the fleet anchors near the island and tells them that we are here to attack Fao Port, I believe they will be welcomed."

Settle might be the latter. He was criticized and taught by the emperor many times along the way, but he never felt annoyed. Whenever he had the chance, he would definitely go forward. This time was the same. He felt that the emperor was worried about the safety of the fleet, so he immediately offered advice.

"Well, the big island is right! The channel of Fao Port is too narrow and not suitable for permanent naval presence. It is better to set up a temporary base here."

Although he couldn't see that far in the dark, Hong Tao roughly knew where Settle was talking about, Falaka Island.

This island later belonged to Kuwait and is a tourist destination. In addition to the beautiful sea view, the temperature is also more suitable than on land. During the day, the temperature in Kuwait City is less than 40 degrees, and the temperature on the island is less than 30 degrees. You have to cover yourself with a thin blanket when you sleep at night.

As for whether the original inhabitants of the island were descendants of the Greeks, it is difficult to verify. However, many ancient artifacts were unearthed on the island in later generations, and a museum was built.

The strange thing is that these artifacts do not belong to Arab civilization, and have nothing to do with Kuwait, which has only a few hundred years of history. Instead, they are very similar to Phoenician civilization. Since the Phoenicians were able to come here, it is not surprising that they have Greek descendants.

"Naval base? Isn't the Army stationed here?"

When he heard about the naval base, Settle immediately lost his composure. He was not a senior officer and was not qualified to understand the overall combat plan. He thought that the army was the main force in this battle and would definitely be under the jurisdiction of the army in the future.

"I don't want to occupy their land, so why would I want to station there? Remember, you must never show such thoughts when you are with the locals, not just you, but everyone on the ship as well.

We are here to punish the Ottomans. They broke the agreement first and arrested our people. They must be punished. But the land still belongs to the locals, and the Ming Dynasty will not touch it.

This naval base is only set up to protect the imperial merchant ships that come here to trade, and to catch some pirates. We cannot let people with ulterior motives destroy the hard-won peace."

Hong Tao never had the intention to occupy the Arabian Peninsula. It was the base camp of Islam, and assimilation was too troublesome and bloody. He just didn't want anyone to use religion to control the thoughts of his people. He was not an enemy of any religion. As long as they didn't come to provoke him, it would be best if they could live in peace. Of course, the Ming Empire had to be allowed to train at least one agent here to ensure that its will was implemented. He could not oppose other people's beliefs, but he could not tolerate anyone interfering with the interests of the Ming Empire. When it came to money, he really had no friends left. He would shout for war and killing at any minute.

The night passed peacefully, with the two hostile parties dozens of kilometers apart and no one knowing the other's existence. From this point of view, technology has indeed promoted the killing of humans.

In later times, regardless of day or night, regardless of the distance, you could be hit by the enemy's weapons. Compared with soldiers in later times, soldiers in ancient times were much happier.

But when a pale blue appeared on the horizon, the peaceful dawn was suddenly broken by various sharp whistles and shouts. The huge fleet slowly left the anchorage, raised layers of canvas, and sailed towards the mouth of the Arab River with the southwest wind.

In order to prevent surprise attacks, the Ottomans set up lookouts and several oars at the mouth of the Arabian River. After seeing the large-scale sails floating on the sea, the sentinels immediately lit a fire on the shore, and the oars paddled desperately into the river, and the siege of Faw Port officially kicked off!
The vanguard fleet did not enter the estuary immediately. Instead, it sent out four Qin-class warships to make a large circle along the coastline near the estuary, carefully patrolling the surrounding waters. After confirming that there were no ambushes, one warship cautiously entered the inland waterway.

"Notify the flagship that it's time to begin!" Hong Tao was not on the Han-class battleship flying the golden sun and moon flag. This was his usual style, which can be summed up in four words: shameless!

The uniform of the Grand Marshal is exactly the same as that of an ordinary soldier. The only difference is the shoulder straps. As an emperor, he travels and goes to war without any ceremonial guards. If you want to know where he is, you can only see the golden sun and moon flag that represents his status.

As the emperor of the empire, his personal expedition was not a show, nor was it to boost morale or increase reputation. It was purely for combat needs. So ensuring one's own safety was not just empty talk, it was really put into practice.

The flagship with the golden sun and moon flag was just a cover. The man standing behind the helm surrounded by the imperial stable warriors was not the emperor, but Setel, the captain of the Han-class battleship.

When he learned from the emperor that he was going to be a substitute, he did not feel any danger, but instead admired him sincerely. This is called temperament. The Ming army and navy all have this kind of shameless temperament that only pursues results. They often act unexpectedly because of this temperament. It is difficult for ordinary people to figure out what these soldiers are thinking.

"Captain, lower the mizzen sail! Boatswain, raise our eyes and let the Ottomans see what war is!"

After receiving the signal flag notification, Settle jumped up from his couch and shouted loudly to the officers on board. His flagship was not only a substitute for the emperor, but also served as the eyes of the vanguard fleet. The task was difficult and brilliant.

"Slow down, slow down... Listen to my call, both sides shout together, one, two, one, two..." In less than ten minutes, a small boat was lifted by a crane and stretched out from the middle of the ship's side, slowly descending to the sea.

When the boat landed on the sea, the crane lifted up a black, soft object and hung it in the air facing the boat. Two lookouts stood in a large wicker basket and pressed hard on a thigh-thick air pump to inject air into a pure copper round metal tank.

(End of this chapter)